[TowerTalk] Mast Wall Thickness

[john at kk9a.com]

Yes a thicker wall will make the mast stronger. Keeping the same wall
thickness and going to a larger diameter will also make it stronger and
use less material. I do not see how the amount inside the tower has
anything to do with mast strength, but it does put less lateral force on
the rotator and top tower section.

John KK9A


To:	towertalk at contesting.com
Subject:	 [TowerTalk] Mast Wall Thickness
From:	 Chris Pinholster <k4win at mac.com>
Date:	 Mon, 24 Feb 2014 12:39:33 -0500
List-post:	 <towertalk at contesting.com">mailto:towertalk at contesting.com>
I have been researching tower mast material. Both aluminum and steel.

If aluminum 60601 tubing with 2"OD and .125 wall fails at 35000 ps, what
happens when you increase wall thickness?

If you increase the thickness of the mast wall, wouldn't that increase make a
difference in the bend or failure rating?
The charts at the metal company I visited seemed to indicate that would be
true. (I was looking at aluminum 2"OD and 1.5"ID)

Also I ran across a chart that showed that using a 14 ft mast, with 4 ft
inside
the tower and 10 ft above was stronger than an 11 ft mast with only 1ft
inside
the tower and 10 ft above.

Any opinion or science from this learned group?



CHRIS PINHOLSTER
k4win at mac.com